The Innocent and Angry Side of Innocence and Anger
by Katrynne
Summary: We all know the story of Innya and Desya, and Aysu. But what happens before their current ordeals? The past to the present of everybodies favourite Tsubasa OCs HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TSUBASA! LOOK AT THE ORIGINAL STORY! Rates M for Aysu's problems...
1. The Innocent Side

The Innocent Side of Innocence and Anger

I can't remember a time that Desya and I weren't together. Well of course there were _some_ times when we fought and didn't talk, or when Father would forcefully separate us… but we were always together when we needed it. Desya and I were the only close ones in my family.

Mother and Father fought a lot, not with each other (they were the picture perfect couple) but with Desya and me. It was the nurses idea to keep Desya and I together when we were babies, then they couldn't pry us apart.

Mother and Father wanted us separated. I was going to be their little key to royalty. I was born three days after the crowned prince. Desya would uphold the family's honour and take after our Father's trade. Of course, that never happened. Although it might have for Desya, if I wasn't here, alive that is.

Desya and I would talk every night after our classes. Comparing the lessons on manners, and child care, and cooking, and cleaning; to the lessons on self defence, reading, writing, and everything else a 'good young man' was supposed to know. As well as anything a 'good assassin' would need to know.

Desya and I were four when we started these lessons. Desya was the one who taught me how to read and write.

Desya and I were joined at the hip, together all the time. I was a rebellious child; I hated dresses, and was disgusted by my Father, who kept me on as short a leash as possible, literally sometimes. Whenever I could sneak out, I would; and I would always take Desya with me. Father never hit me, although he threatened to.

But Father hit Desya a lot.

And even though it was my fault, I couldn't do anything about it. It hurt me so much as I sat there and screamed at my Father to leave Desya alone, to stop hurting him. One night, Father beat Desya so badly that he had to go to the hospital.

That was the first time that Father managed to separate us.

Father told me,

"_Innya, why do you have to misbehave like this? You claim to love your brother, but you only hurt him. If you go with your Mother, to the other mansion, Desya won't have to be hurt anymore."_

And I believed him. I was almost five years old, and all the other girls my age, in my classes, talked about how great their 'Papas' were, about how they never told a lie, and how they would always give them nice things. I looked up at my Father, and using the biggest (most commanding) voice a four year old could muster, I replied.

"_I'll think about it."_

Later that night, my Mother came to me.

"_Innya, my dear."_

"_Yes Mother?" _I asked.

"_Innya, come and live at the second mansion, with me. Don't you like me? Don't you want your Father and I and Desya to be happy? Where nobody gets hurt?" _She looked at me with a sad smile.

"_Mother?" _I asked, looking up at her near tears, _"Why does Desya get hurt when it's me who does the bad stuff and sneaks off?"_

"_Because, Innya dear." _ Her kind smile turned scary, _"You can't have a scar on your body when we sell you off to the prince."_

That was when I saw my Mother in the **real** light. To me, my Mother was the nice parent, who I could go and cry to when my Father scared me. It was clear in that one moment; my Mother was certainly not who I thought she was. I told my Father that night that I would move in with Mother, and that I would behave myself. I knew that if I stayed there, Desya would just get hurt again. So I had to leave.

I didn't see Desya for a while after that. That month, on May fourth, my Auntie killed herself.

My Auntie Rose was a very nice lady. She always snuck me sweets, even though Mother complained that it was bad for my _complexion._ Every year, on the forth of May (Mother always said that it was a good sign that I was born in May, it's the month of Mothers); my Auntie would give me a present for my birthday. I hid them all away in a box under my bed. It started out with dried lilies from her garden (they were really pretty), and then a rose with the thorns on it, and for my fourth birthday I got just the thorns. Auntie Rose was a symbolic person, so I knew it wasn't something too bad, it was probably some way to ward off dangers. That year, for my birthday, my Auntie gave me my first gun. After the body was discovered and I was rushed off to the cellar (as not to scar my innocent mind) the gardener found me. In his hand was a note, and a large shoe box. He shoved it into my arms, and then scampered off.

_Dear my little Innya,_

_This note is the last thing I will say before I finally pass on from this hell. I refuse to allow you to go through the same suffering I did. I was so much like you when I was a child, always running around in pants, and defying my parents. When I was fifteen, the legal age of marriage at that time, I was married off into a noble family. From there your cousins sprung. But that was never what I wanted, and I know it isn't what you want either… So I give you this._

_This is the gun that I will use to kill myself, as well as its twin. I hope that you can use it well to protect you and your brother. No matter what… Never allow your Father to take your freedom from you. Ever._

_Go see the blacksmith in town, he or his son can teach you to shoot._

_Take care of yourself, my little Innya._

_Love you always, _

_Auntie Rosie_

I made sure that nobody was around, then stared in at the two shining guns, although there was some blood on one, they were perfect. The last gift my Auntie would ever give me. She would protect me.

I was five years old, and still small enough to sneak off the grounds, and from age five until six I was being trained by the blacksmith's son out in the forest after dark. He told me I was 'a natural' then gave me a box.

"_In here are some chemicals. There are also recipes for different kinds of bullets." _He said with a smile, _"Happy birthday, Innya."_

"_Wow!" _I exclaimed happily, _"So I'm seven today, huh. Wow…"_

"_You are, are you going to go and move back in with your brother now that you're all grown up?"_ the older boy said with a chuckle. My head filled with determination, I nodded, and scurried off home. Tomorrow I would be talking with my Father.

"_I will not allow this!"_ my Father bellowed, but I walked past him, hugging my shoebox of treasures to my chest. Now I had the flowers, the guns, a few bullets, and the ingredients tucked away.

"_Desya!" _I giggled as I ran up to my brother, and hugged him, and he hugged back. Although there were no bruises, I could see he was really tired.

"_Innya! Why did you leave me!?"_ Desya said, practically in tears as he squeezed me close to him, _"Don't ever leave me ever again, okay?" _

"_Never!" _I smiled, and I didn't.

I was seven years old when I cut my hair.

It was snowing outside, and Desya was studying for his lessons with Father. Out of nowhere I pulled a butcher's knife off the counter and sliced clean through the long locks, leaving a butchered path in its wake. After Father left I walked shyly into the room.

"_Innya! What happened to your hair?!"_ Desya gasped as he stared at me in utter horror.

"_You're my twin, so I want to look like you." _ I said, looking off to the side, seeing how foolish it was, _"But it's not proper for boys to have long hair so..."_

"_But girls shouldn't have short hair!" _Desya laughed. I sighed, maybe if I look like a boy instead of a girl, then Father wouldn't want to marry me off,_ "Okay, how about this: We'll grow our hair to the lower back."_

"_But that's too long for a boy!" _I objected, afraid of what Father would do to him.

"_We've already swapped roles, I'd make a better wi- husband," _Desya corrected himself, _"And you'd make a better assassin than me."_ Desya shrugged as he wandered off to find something. He came back with a pair of scissors. _"Who cares about me when I won't be accepted anyways? Now sit down and let me fix this sad excuse of a haircut."_

"_Hey! I did that myself!" _I objected, embarrassed by the insult.

"_I can tell." _ Desya grinned over my shoulder.

"_HEY!" _I whined.

The next year, when I was eight, I saw something I could never forget. One night Desya and I had snuck out of the mansion in order to see an old fortune telling woman in our town. Of course, she was just a scam, nothing special. That was one of the few times that Desya and I were caught by Father's guards. Both Desya and I were terrified. The last time we had been caught Father nearly killed Desya. The two guards grabbed us and threw us over their shoulders, carrying us home. I always wondered why nobody stopped to help us. We'd struggle and scream but everybody just looked the other way.

"_People are selfish, they only care about themselves. But you're my other half Innya! I'll always care about you! And I'll always protect you!"_ Desya said that to me after one of his beatings, when I asked him why nobody helped us.

That night Father didn't even lay a hand on Desya. He was in a very good mood, actually. It actually reminded me of when he got off a satisfying job. But I just brought him his tea, and dealt with his lecture on my role in life. Actually, now that I think of it, the lecture was more severe than usual. Like he wanted me to know for sure that I was in my place. That night when I went out to the outer garden to water the roses I saw a girl with long silver hair. She was around ten years old and she was covered in wounds, her beautiful hair stained crimson in spots from her wounds. She looked like she was dead, dumped for the next passerby to find her. I went to scream, but before I could I could smell my Father's cologne, and then a cloth was pressed over my mouth and I passed out.

For the next few years, we just continued along with that routine, avoiding angering Father beyond growing Desya's hair out did, practicing with the gun when nobody was looking, and sneaking out to see the town without the 'guiding gaze' of Father. That was when I first found out about the really evil adults, the ones that hurt girls, and killed people.

But the worst adults were really the ones that Father invited over. They got really drunk, and they'd come in and to really weird things to me. Usually it was just a kiss or a grope, but one time somebody tried to go beyond that. I was eight years old. I never screamed before, Father threatened to disown Desya if I did, but there was nobody in the house but Desya and I. Mother and Father had gone down to the other mansion and for some reason one of the men had stayed behind. The second he tried to take the dress that fell loosely over my small form I screamed as loud as I could. That was the rule, clothes on. I could smell cigars and wine on his breath and I kicked and scratched and screamed until Desya appeared at the door. I curled up into a ball and a loud shot was heard. I looked up in fear, and noticed that the bullet had only hit the man's shoulder. He stood up, cursed, and then lunged at my twin. The gun was sent flying in my direction, and I picked it up, and shot.

My aim was true, right through the back of the pervert's skull. Blood had spattered all over Desya, and he was shaking as the still twitching man fell to the ground, just short of him. Without thinking, I smashed the window, hung the blanket out, after tying it securely to the bed post. I pulled the dress back on, then grabbed Desya and ran over to the other mansion, after hiding my gun.

"_Father!"_ We shouted in union as we ran into the room, both of us covered in blood.

"_Father! Some man came through the window! There was a loud BANG! Then your friend fell over! I think he's sleeping… but he won't wake up! And he's bleeding really bad!"_ I said, keeping the panic out of my voice. I need to make it seem like I didn't understand.

"_Where is he?" _Father asked, standing up as Desya and I shuffled over to our Mother.

"_He's in my room… he said he wanted to show me a magic trick…" _I whimpered slightly, _"Why won't he wake up Mother?"_

"_Shhhh… don't worry; he's just taking a nap. Let's go get you two cleaned up."_ Mother soothed, as she apologised to her guests and rushed Desya and I into the nearest bathrooms, tossing two of our Father's oversized shirts in after us. _"Wash and get changed into these, you can use the guest rooms."_ She hissed, clearly annoyed by the disturbance. We did as we were told. That was the first time I ever saw a man die.

I was nine years old when I finally freed Desya and me from Mother and Father.

"_Innya." _My Father said. I walked over, when he just said our names, which was his way of saying 'you're in a shitload of trouble' or 'get your asses over here'.

"_Yes Father?" _I asked, formally.

"_You understand what a wife's job is, right?" _He asked. He was unusually pleased that day, and I had no idea why.

"_It is a wife's job to please her husband, and to have sons so that the husband's line can continue on. If they are lucky, and have a good, rich husband, they only act as a possession, something for the husband to show off; there are maids to take care of the children and work. But in a less fortunate situation she is to cook, clean, and take care of the children." _I recited.

"_I'm pleased that you understand. Today you will be going off to live with your fiancée."_ My Father smiled, as if he was giving me a gift.

"_What's a fiancée?"_ I asked, looking innocently up to my Father.

"_It's who you're going to marry as soon as you can have babies."_ My Mother smiled from the open doorway. I frowned.

"_I don't wanna get married."_ I shook my head 'no', _"aren't I too little anyways?"_

"_No, soon enough you will be ten, which is the legal age for marriage now, although because it __**is**__ the prince, some rules will be bent."_ Father said, using an authoritative voice. I shook my head again and backed away from my Father.

"_Is Desya coming too?" _I asked, not wanting to leave my other half behind.

"_No, Desya will continue to live here, studying under your father."_ My Mother used a mock-motherly voice. _"You won't be his sister anymore, Innya. You will __**belong**__ to the prince."_

"_You will bring us a lot of money, little brat." _My Father hissed, _"And you __**will**__ behave yourself. Or I'll kill off that damned nuisance of a son off myself."_

"_No." _I said as I turned around and ran towards my room.

I found Desya in the hallway, and I dragged him along behind me. I threw him onto my bed, and then pulled out my two, shiny silver-white guns from under my pillow. My Father appeared in the doorway, holding a small pistol.

"_Damned bitch. I'll kill your precious brother here and now if you don't do as you're told."_ Father hissed. I once again shook my head no, and then raised both guns, aimed at my Father.

"_Innya! Put those away!"_ My Mother yelled, appearing behind my Father with the same butcher's knife I had used to cut my hair two years earlier.

"_NO!" _ I screamed, as I pulled the trigger. I gave my Mother a 'third eye' shooting through the centre of my Mother's forehead. Blood splattered all over the wall of the hallway and a pool of the crimson liquid pooled at the head of My Mother, who lay on the ground dead. My Father glared at me, and raised his gun. I could see that it was aimed just over my shoulder. I realised it was aimed at Desya. _"NO!"_ I shouted out again, as I shot it out of his hand. My hands began to shake, as I realised I killed my Mother. I mean, sure she was really mean, and she was going to hurt Desya, but she was my Mother!

My Father took advantage of my panic and lunged at me, knocking me into a wall, then grabbing Desya by his hair, holding the sharp cleaver to Desya's throat.

"_You __**WILL**__ do as you're told."_ My eyes stared off into space, as numbness overcame me.

"_Yes sir…" _I muttered. My brain had gone dead. My Father grabbed me by the cuff of my dress, and dragged me across the floor, not even bothering to pick up the guns that slid out of my hands. I heard more than saw the gun release as I fell to the floor, and my Father collapsed, a hole in the back of his leg.

"_Innya! Get over here! I can't shoot with these things!" _Desya yelled, as my Father turned towards my brother, his eyes overcome with rage. I don't remember running past my Father, or taking the guns from Desya. All I remember is walking up to my Father, putting my gun up to his forehead, and then blowing his twisted brains out.

The close contact caused blood to go everywhere, and the back of my Father's head split open as the exploding bullet that the blacksmith's son gave me for my seventh birthday did its job.

After that my memory fades in and out a lot. Desya and I running to the stables after taking all the food and money my Mother's prized stallions could carry, then loading it up onto the horses. Then galloping through the dark town, escaping down a merchant's road that led to nowhere.

And then a couple walking down that road. The woman was very thin, almost too thin, with wavy blond hair and deep, miserable blue eyes; her husband was tall, well built, and had deep green eyes with rings under them, tufts of his brown hair stuck out from under a hood. The woman started screaming and wailing after we rode by.

"_It's a message from the God's! Aysu is going to die! My little princess!"_ the wails echoed softly off the trees that surrounded the road, but we had no time to stop to explain that we had nothing to do with their 'Aysu', but what could we say, anyways? We couldn't tell them that we just killed off our parents, they'd probably turn us in and we'd be separated. I might even be given off to a nunnery, and Desya killed for the crime.

After that Desya and I drifted. I gained a reputation as one of the best assassins around, and I got many jobs. I had good aim, I worked cheap, and nobody couldn't **not** trust my face. I was labelled the 'Innocent Assassin'. Between Desya, who took up work carving little statues and toys, and myself, who got the occasional job (But not that many, nobody believed that I would kill somebody), we made enough to get by, although we had to sell the horses when we ran out of food. We survived like that for just over a year. Desya cut his hair short so people would buy from him. I cut my hair short as well. Although my excuse was something about inconvenience we both knew it was just me liking looking like my twin.

I was one of the few female assassins, and one of the only children assassins.

Most people didn't believe me when they first came to me for jobs, but their friends assured them, I was the girl for the job.

A lot of my customers just thought I looked too innocent. One of them asked why.

"_Because… my parents hurt me and my brother real bad, so the more times I get to kill them, the better."_ I smiled. My reference, a middle age man with golden blond hair, explained.

"_This here girl killed off her mummeh and daddeh, who had been abusing her and her brother, and intended to sell her off into slavery or somethin'… she just pictures all of her victims as 'er Mummy n' Daddy. I swear, this little 'un is the only person alive that can kill for a livin' and have a heart purer 'an a saint's."_ I smiled up at the drunkard, then to his companion.

"_I've got a really good shot!" _I smiled, _"I never miss my Mother's or Father's 'third eye'! Never have! And I work really cheap! Just enough for food for my brother and I."_ That always left a few extra coins in my jar, and I never did miss.

Soon I was infamous in the underworld, and Desya and I had enough to live comfortably, although I switched over to the black pants and shirt set that was torn in multiple places, and always smelled of blood, for any job I went on.

I was ten when I met Aysu.

I was on a particularly personal job. I was hired to kill off one of my father's friends, but I couldn't be seen by anybody and it had to look like an accident, so that meant I couldn't just guilt myself into the house like I usually did, and then just kill off everybody. I already knew exactly what I would do. If everything was in the same spots as before when I had visited with Mother and Father, then I could sneak into the air duct, and then go into the office while the guy was out. I'd loosen the screws on the big moose head that hung over his desk, and then when he sat down at his desk to read I'd shoot at a string that I would use to hold the moose head up. There would be a silencer on my gun, and I'd grab the thread and get back into the duct before anybody could even come and check. Of course, I'd lock the door to buy extra time.

Everything was set up, and all I needed was my victim. As expected he sat at the desk and started filling out whatever forms adults wasted time filling out. I shot, and the bullet went through the thread, dropping the moose onto the man and shattering his spine as the oversized beast head crushed him, and then into the air duct behind the moose head. I jumped out of the air duct I had been hiding in, and then locked the door, making sure I had gloves on, and checked for a pulse. When I was sure the man, whose face had warped to the appearance of my Father's, was dead, I gathered my equipment, and after the man was posed properly so it was an obvious accident (with the moose's antler going through his forehead, which was ironic because it was straight through the third eye without me even trying), and then climbed into the duct. I got outside of the house and sighed in annoyance as I noticed the sticky liquid all over me.

"_I thought that I'd be able to go without blood this time…" _ I sighed, _"I told Desya I'd come home cleaner from this one too."_

"_Innya!" _Desya hissed from nearby bushes._ "You said you wouldn't get so bloody this time!"_

"_Well I didn't mean to…"_ I muttered. Then I broke out in a smile, and bolted. It was all in good fun, I could easily outrun Desya, and he didn't fit any reports of an assassin, so he was usually just thought of as a scraggily poor kid when he got caught. He ran after me, but I soon had a very large break between us.

I was surprised when I came to an unfamiliar clearing, and saw a very angry looking girl walking around.

I tripped over the bush I was climbing over as I tried to freeze mid-air, and then we blinked at each other for a few seconds. I looked her over, inspecting her.

"_Who are you?"_ She finally asked me. I paused, not really sure if I should answer her.

"_Innya's my name. What about you?" _I asked, curious who this weird girl was.

"_Aysu."_ She answered, _"What's with the blood? Did you kill somebody?"_ she asked, smirking at me. I looked down at my shirt then frowned up at her.

"_That's right. I killed my parents. What are you going to do about it?" _I challenged. I was still in this odd zone I get into where my vision goes kind of red, and I just want to kill somebody. It was usually this way after a mission, but recently, it hadn't been going away.

_"I don't really care that you killed your parents, actually." _Aysu replied with a shrug. Then she paused for a moment, _"Say.... You wouldn't happen to be interested in killing for a living, would you?"_ I stared, my eyes wide for a second as I thought over the offer. _"You see, I need a partner in order to be qualified for the job, but I'm not gonna settle on just anyone. I need a powerful fighter. Think you can handle it?"_Sure I had done a few odd jobs killing people, but as an actual job where I can do it all the time? Part of me wanted to say no, but the other part, the part that made me see red and wanted me to kill people was stronger. I gave her a big smile.

"_Sounds like fun!" _Aysu smirked at me, and before I could say anything else Desya came up from behind me.

"_Innya! Wait up! Don't leave me behind!"_ Desya called over to me as he jogged up to me and my new friend.

"_Desya!" _I grinned,_ "Sure took you long enough!"_ Aysu blinked at Desya.

"_Who's this?"_ she asked coldly.

"_Oh! This is my brother, Desya." _I smiled, _"Desya, this is my new friend, Aysu! We're gunna be partners and kill people for a living!" _I smiled even brighter at the last bit.

"_Haha." _Desya said, as he patted my shoulder,_ "Sounds like a job that suits you!"_ Desya chuckled,_ "Aysu, huh? Nice to meet you."_ Desya held out his hand for a shake, but Aysu ignored him.

"_A brother, huh?" _Aysu muttered, _"Could be a problem…" _She looked over to me, _"Are you sure he won't… Get in the way?"_

"_Don't worry about Desya, he'll be fine! Now tell me more about this job that involves killing people!"_ I grinned. Aysu nodded, but was clearly still uneasy. She shrugged and then began to explain…


	2. The Angry Side

The Angry Side of Innocence and Anger

A poor, common life. That's the only way to describe what things were like with my family. We had barely enough money to live off of, even though both of my parents worked. Though, it was the same for everyone in our village. We all dressed in rags, for lack of better clothing, and the children used rocks and sticks for toys. From the day you can walk, and understand commands, you have to help your family work. It was a difficult life, but no one seemed to mind. After all, none of us knew any better. We thought that this was how everyone, other than royalty, lived.

"Hey, Aysu. What do you suppose it's like to be royalty?" My best friend asked me one day.

"Well, I bet you would get to wear pretty colourful clothing all day! And there would be so much food served at every meal that wouldn't know what to eat first!" I answered enthusiastically. "And you would live in a castle that was so big, you'd get lost ever day!"

"And I'll bet that you would have so many dresses that you could wear three different ones everyday! And I'm sure there would be servants to do work for you, and everyone would bow down to you!" Stars filled our eyes as my friend and I imagined a life completely different.

But we were just kids. And like I said before, we weren't unhappy with our simply life. We loved the people in the village, and we all loved our families. Mine consisted of just me and my parents. My father was a tall, well-built man with deep green eyes and brown hair. My mother was a slim woman with wavy blond hair and dark blue eyes. They were always kind to me, and I loved them more than anyone. My mother always combed my long silver hair, and said that even though I wasn't born royalty, I would always be her princess. My father would tell me stories every night before I went to bed, and every morning I would wake up early just so I could kiss him goodbye when he left for work.

But then one day, strange things started happening. It all started when a group of odd-looking people strolled into town. I was just seven years old at the time, and thought they were really creepy. They talked to some of the adults, and looked at us kids weirdly. After a few days, they disappeared. And not too long after that, my best friend disappeared too. At first I thought she must be really sick, so a few days later I went to her house to give her a get-well present. But no one was there. I asked around, but all anyone would tell me was that they decided to leave. I thought it strange that my best friend would leave without saying goodbye, and I tried talking to my parents about it, but they got really upset. That night, I was woken up by my parents arguing about something. I couldn't hear what they were saying, and I didn't want to. My parents had never argued about anything before, and their loud, angry voices scared me.

A few days later, I was woken up in the middle of the night again. But this time it was due to the unusual activity that seemed to be going on in our house. I was curious, and so stepped out of room to ask my parents what was going on. As soon as they saw me, they froze, and looked at me with an expression I had never seen before. It was a mixture of guilt and sadness. I turned my eyes away, and noticed a bunch of full bags.

"Are we going on a trip?" I asked. "Should I pack my stuff too?"

Again with that expression on their faces. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. My parents waited a moment before answering. My mother opened the door, letting in a man I recognized as one of the creepy guys who were here before. I couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here. Nothing came to my mind, and for some reason I couldn't bring myself to ask. The man looked me over, and then smiled.

"You were right, she really is a prize." He said in a tone that made me uncomfortable. "Here's the amount we agreed on." He handed my father a large stack of money; much more than I had ever seen in my entire life. Then, without a word, he walked over to me, grabbed my wrist, and started dragging me away.

"What are you doing?!" I cried. I turned to my parents, but they did nothing to try and stop him. "Please let me go!" I begged, but the man didn't respond to me. I turned around and reached a hand out to my parents as I was dragged away. "Mommy! Daddy! I don't want to be taken away! Please help me!" Tears streamed down my face, as my parents simply watched me being taken away.

As soon as we were outside, the man gagged me so I wouldn't wake up anyone in town. I tried to struggle, but he was a grown man, against whom I stood no chance. He tied my hands behind my back, and then threw me over his shoulder and walked out of town. He carried me into a dense forest. After a long walk, we came across what seemed to be a camp. There was a large fire, and around it sat a group of about five men. Off to the side was a group of dirty kids of varying ages, both boys and girls, who were huddled together like a bunch of scared animals. They were all tied up, and joined by one rope that was secured into the ground.

The other men finally noticed us, and smiled. "Good, you got another one out of that pathetic village. Just throw her with the rest of them."

"Sure." The man carrying me replied as he dropped me onto the ground, the tied me to the rope like all the rest of them were. He then took out a gun and placed it at my throat. "Listen brat, you're now our property. Cause us any trouble, and you'll get hurt. Never speak unless we tell you to, and if you try to escape, we'll kill you." With that, he removed the gag, and then joined the other men around the fire.

"Aysu..." I heard a familiar voice whisper. I looked up to see my best friend there among the group of kids.

"W-what are you doing here?" I made sure to whisper as quietly as possible.

"I don't know..." She replied.

Then one of the others spoke up. "It's like that man said, you're now their property. You have to do what they say, otherwise they'll hurt you. Like us, you're both their slaves."

My friend suddenly stood up, her face twisted with fear, and tears pouring out of her eyes. "No! I don't want to be a slave! What were my parents thinking?!"

Before any of us could tell her to sit down and be quiet, one of the men had come up and punched her. She crashed to the ground, he cheek swelling from the blow. "Stupid little twit! You don't have the right to speak!" The man then started kicking her as she lay on the ground. With each blow, she let out a loud cry, and although the man yelled at her to shut up, she simply couldn't bear it. I stared in horror as my best friend was now bruised and bleeding all over. But I didn't interfere. I wanted to, but the feeling of the man's gun at my throat scared me, and I didn't want to die. Finally the man grew impatient, and said: "Tch. You're useless if you can't even keep your mouth shut." And with that, he pulled out his gun and shot a hole into her head.

Her body, which had been trembling and curling up from the pain, now lay limp and lifeless. Blood flowed like river from the bullet wound, staining the ground underneath her. I stared for an endless amount of time at her eyes, which remained opened, though completely empty. I knew that that right there was death. It scared me, and yet I was entranced by it. For the entire night, my eyes never diverted from the corpse.

In the morning we set off, leaving my dead friend behind. The rope which bound us all in a single file line was attached to the horse of one of the men. We received nothing to eat for the entire day, and although our stomachs begged for food, no one said anything. The image of my best friend's corpse remained engraved into everyone's memory, and no one wanted a repeat of that scene. Things went on like this for several weeks. None of us knew where we were headed. We simply traveled from town to town, occasionally picking up a few additions to our pathetic little group. We couldn't even consider ourselves friends, since no one knew each other's names and none of us would stand up for another at the cost of our own life.

Eventually the men got bored.

"Heh. What a nice little group we've got here. Haven't had any troubles for a while." The men smirked as we all sat in a small, abandoned hut that was in the middle of nowhere.

"Yeah, we'll have to reward them." The men then got up, and began examining us closely. I noticed they were only looking at the girls of the group and ignoring the boys. Then one of them came over to me. "Not often you see a young lady with such fine silver hair..." He curled my hair between his fingers. "And what smooth, pale skin you have... I think she's the one I'll take." He grinned perversely as he stroked my cheek. The action made me uncomfortable, and the look in his eyes sent chills down my spine. My heart quickened, and my breathing became heavy. As much as I wanted to say something, I kept my mouth shut. The image of my best friend flashed through my mind, over and over.

I was brought back to reality as the man moved his hand down my body and removed my pants. I tried to struggle, but it was no use. My pathetic seven-year-old strength stood no chance against this grown man. He removed his own pants and then started raping me. Of course, at the time I didn't know what that meant, and I didn't understand what he was doing to me. I felt a pain that was somehow different from anything I had ever felt before. I wanted to scream, but I also knew that I had to stay quiet or else I could be killed. Tears started to fill my eyes as I glued my lips shut and tried to endure it. The man started to get rougher, and he ran his hands all over my body, touching me in places I knew he shouldn't. It felt wrong, and I wished with all my might that it would just end. I shut my eyes, so that at the very least I wouldn't have to look at his disgusting face, which wore a smile full of a twisted enjoyment.

My mind blanked at that point. I vaguely remember hearing screams that didn't belong to me, and then gunshots. As I woke up in the morning, I was completely naked. The other kids stared at me awkwardly, and seemed to move away from me as I stirred. The men were still asleep, and there were a few corpses with gunshot wounds lying around. Much to my dismay, there was a rope tied around my wrist so that I couldn't escape while the men were sleeping. I found my clothes lying not too far away, and put them back on. I then went to sit in the group as always, but as soon as I approached they all shuffled away. I stared at them with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong with you...?!" One of them whispered with a frightened tone. I simply stared. "You just sat there while that guy... I mean, how could you not even scream?!"

I couldn't bring myself to answer. I didn't even know what to say. At that time I was barely able to comprehend what had just happened to me.

Then suddenly, the door to the hut was burst in, and a group of people with guns rushed in and pointed their weapons at us. The men woke up with a start, but then raised their hands in submission as guns were pointed in their faces. The other kids quivered with fear at the new development. I just sat there observing silently. I had gotten used to people threatening me, and found that the best way to survive was to stay quiet and calm.

Then a tall man with a confident expression walked in. He wore all black, his hair was a dirty blonde, and he had black eyes. "We've finally tracked you guys down..." He said to the men, who were now tied up. "You've got quite a bounty on your heads. Lucky for me, you stopped for a little break. I look forward to collecting on you guys."

"Boss, what do we do with the kids?" One of his henchmen asked.

The 'Boss' turned to us. His expression was bland as he browsed over the others' scared expressions. As soon as he got to me, he stared for a moment, and then approached me. He bent down and looked me in the eye. "Aren't you scared?"

I paused for a moment. Then in a quiet voice that hadn't been used in a while, I answered: "I don't want to die."

He smirked. "What's your name?"

I had to think. No one had addressed me by my name in a long time, and I hadn't used my name in a while. "Aysu." My voice instinctively replied.

"Well, Aysu, you're in luck. I don't feel like killing you right now." He pointed to the men who were now detained. "But you see them? I'm gonna get a lot of money for turning them in... Alive _or_ dead. And quite frankly they're too much trouble for me alive. So... Do you want to have some fun?"

I stared at him with a childish expression. 'Fun' was a word I hadn't heard or thought about in a while. I nodded my head expectantly.

He smirked, and then held out a gun in front of my face. "Kill them." I stared with a puzzled expression. Killing was considered fun? "Come on, it's easy. You just have to do this..." He grabbed one of the quivering boys, put the gun to his head, and then pulled the trigger. With a loud shot, blood exploded out of the child's head and he fell to the floor, dead.

He held out the gun for me, and I took it. I turned it over a few times in my hands, looking it over closely.

The Boss then grabbed me and took me over to the detained men. "Go on, kill one of them. Put the gun to his face and pull the trigger. It's not that hard." I looked then over. They were pathetic, all tied up and shaking with fear like a bunch of children. My eyes fell on the man who raped me, and I found that I couldn't look away. "He hurt you, huh?" The Boss said. "What'd he do? Rape you?" My eyes narrowed as I became filled with an unexpected anger at the word 'rape'. "Go on, shoot him. Send him to the depths of hell, where he'll suffer for what he did to you. That's what you want, right?"

I did want that. I wanted him to feel all the pain he inflicted upon me. I wanted him to know the fear I felt around him. I wanted to hurt him. Rage engulfed me so fast, that without a second thought I had put the gun to his forehead and shot. As he crashed to the floor in a bloody mess, the other men screamed in horror. Their cowardice infuriated me. _This_ is what I had been afraid of all this time? They were nothing more than a bunch of cowards who get their kicks from hurting those weaker than them. My rage showed on my face, and they began to beg for their lives. It was pathetic. The mere sound of their voices made me want to destroy them. My body trembled as I gradually lost control of my rational mind.

"Shut up..." I muttered as my anger boiled and took me over. "SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" I shouted as I took the gun and shot every single one of them. As their blood fell on the ground, and their bodies ceased moving, I felt an odd satisfaction. I stood there pondering why I was filled with such pleasure, but before I could come up with an answer, I was brought back to the present by a voice.

"Alright, gather up the corpses. We're gonna collect our bounty." The Boss commanded with excitement. His group did as instructed, and the left the hut. I didn't move in the slightest.

"Hey, Aysu. I like you, so I think I might keep you around." The Boss said, as he patted my shoulder. "But before we get going, do you wanna see something neat?"

I looked up at him curiously. The man smirked, and then turned towards the group of children. From his belt, he brought out a black whip. With a short, quick movement of his arm, the whip lashed forward slicing all the children into bloody pieces.

"It may seem like an unusual weapon, but it's never let me down." The Boss smirked.

I took a few steps forward. The floor seemed to be painted with dark red blood, and sliced bodies. I stared in awe. There was a strange beauty about the scene, and I could feel my face twist into a smile as I gazed upon it. This was the answer; I truly enjoyed killing. It gave a thrill, the like of which I had never felt before. I could control the fates of others. This kind of power made me happy. I felt a superiority that filled my body with excitement. I wanted to do it more.

"Come on, Aysu. Let's go collect our bounty." The Boss said as he led me away with the rest of his team. From then on I became a bounty hunter; A member of his group.

For two years I did nothing but kill people, and train with the Boss and the others to improve my ability to kill. I had no idea how vast a field killing was. There were so many different ways it could be done, so many weapons to choose from, so many different ways of approaching a victim, different techniques on toying with them. I enjoyed myself to the fullest with this group, even though I was usually very silent. One of the female members tried to get me to open up, but I refused. The only one I held any respect for was the Boss. I felt comfortable around him, and he was the only one I ever talked to about my past, or anything for that matter. One day during training he told me:

"You're not angry enough, Aysu. The most efficient way to kill is to take an absolute rage, and control it. Right now, you just kill for the enjoyment. Forget about that for now. Get angry. Think of the anger you felt when those bastards raped you and killed your friend. Think of your parents."

"Why would I be angry at my parents?" I asked innocently.

"What, you still haven't figured it out? They _sold_ you to slave traders so that they could leave their life of poverty. Did that thought ever occur to you? Money is worth more to them than the life of their _precious princess_."

"Shut up..." I muttered. The thought had crossed my mind, but I didn't want to believe it. Whenever I thought about my parents, all the happy moments I shared with them flooded into my mind. Somewhere deep inside of me, I didn't want to believe that the people I had trusted most would betray me like that.

"You don't believe me? The fact that you're here now is proof. People like them lie all the time. They say nice things, pretend they love you and then in an instant they'll throw you away like a piece of trash."

"LIES!" I shouted as I fired a gun at him. The Boss dodged easily, and then smirked.

"That's better. Remember this: even your own loving family betrayed you. You can't trust anyone. If you understand that, then you'll have no trouble surviving."

Those words became engraved in my memory. For a long time I thought about them, and tried to figure out what exactly he meant by telling me that. 'You can't trust anyone.' One thing I knew for certain was that my parents weren't the loving family I wanted them to be. The realization struck me hard. Whenever I would think about them, and all the times we shared as a family, I would be thrown into an uncontrollable rage. I would destroy things, and kill people for absolutely no reason. The members of the Boss' group started to become afraid of me. I was unstable, and dangerous to be around. One time I heard them begging the Boss to throw me out, and it was then I realized that the Boss was right. I couldn't trust anyone. Not even the people who had saved me from the slave traders. Then a thought crossed my mind. At first, I tried to ignore it, but the words the Boss spoke to me would flood back into my head and play like a broken tape. _You can't trust anyone._

It was then that I started to think about what I would do with myself for the rest of my life. I looked into different fields that involved me getting to kill people. The one that interested me most was assassination; a job where people would pay large amounts of money for you to kill a certain person or group. It was much better than bounty hunting, where occasionally the victim had to be handed in alive. So with the decision that I would become an assassin, there was only one thing left for me to do.

A few nights later, I approached the Boss.

"What's up, Aysu? You wanted to talk." He said to me, almost amused.

"I can't trust anyone." I said to him simply. "That's what you told me."

"Oh? And what about it?" He smirked.

I walked up to him slowly, staring into his dark, black eyes. For the first time, I wondered why he got into this business. What caused him to want to kill? But then, maybe there was no reason. Maybe he just enjoyed it. "If what you say is true, then I can't trust you either."

His smirk never left his face. "You're probably right... So what do you plan to about it?"

Without another word, I brought out a knife and stabbed him. He let out a cry of pain as I removed the knife, and then stabbed him once more. I repeated it several times, until he fell to his knees, and let his body rest against me, covering my clothes in a thick layer of blood. His body trembled, and blood flowed from his mouth as he struggled to say something. But the words wouldn't come, so instead he placed his black whip into my hands, and then slid off me and onto the floor, dead.

Looking at his body, I didn't regret killing him. I felt good, like I had accomplished something great. He was the one I had looked up to for the past couple of years, not some random prey I had come across. It was in that moment that I vowed to never again trust anyone. Even to him, I was always just a bit of amusement. Someone he could raise to be however he wanted. He was using me, just like everyone else.

It wasn't long before the members of his group noticed the blood on my clothing and discovered his corpse. "You little bitch! What the hell happened?!" They shouted at me.

"Isn't it obvious? I killed him." I didn't try to hide the truth. In fact, I wanted them to know. And as I told them, a sadistic smile played across my lips.

Without any more words, or an ounce of mercy, they all attacked me. Just as I wanted. My smile stretched into something that must have looked horrific and insane as I swung the Boss' black whip for the first time, causing the group of trained men and woman to fall to the floor in bloody pieces. The sensation was incredible. In that instant I felt invincible. The whip felt so natural in my hand, as if it were a part of my arm. I must have stood there for a very long time as I stared in awe at the scene I had created with the whip. And now this weapon belonged to me. With it I didn't need anyone else. I would create my own path in life. A path of blood and killing. And I knew I would enjoy myself. After all, killing people was the only thing that made me happy.

However, I knew that if I was going to be an assassin I would need more training. Assassination wasn't just about the killing, what was more important is how the kill is executed. Getting in quietly, making the kill, and then getting out quietly. That was the general process. I could already kill in many various ways, but I needed more practice in the art of stealth. So for the next year I focused intently on my training. I would practice on people in small villages, who wouldn't raise too much attention. In that way, I would also steal food and money from my victims. At first it was difficult. I was used to just killing my victims, as well as anyone who happened to bear witness. But I pushed myself, and eventually found that normal people would not notice my presence in the slightest. So I went in search of a more challenging opponent. If I ever came across any soldiers of the royal family's army, I would make them my prey. I would follow them, and see how long it took before they would finally notice me. It got to the point that I could stalk even the better trained soldiers for up to a week, before I would grow bored and deem them unworthy of my attention.

I then started to take on jobs. It was extremely difficult at first. After all I was just about nine and a half years old. None of them wanted to believe that a mere child had the capacity to kill. For those who doubted, I had no trouble providing a demonstration of my abilities. In fact, sometimes I would just kill the person who was going to hire me if I didn't think it was worth it to work for them. Eventually, word spread about me. After all, there aren't many child assassins with silver hair and a black whip. My skills were rarely doubted, and anyone who did doubt me was quickly informed that I had no problem killing them and finding someone else to hire me. Some people even commented on me saying, 'That girl's heart is as black as the whip she uses.' I didn't care. It was probably true. And besides, there's a certain charm to having people cringe with fear at the mere mention of your name.

But then one day I came across an interesting bit of information. Apparently there was a family that specialized in assassination. They would train their male children from the moment they could walk, and marry off any female children in order to get money. Even their own house was said to be rigged with many traps, so as to easily get rid of any intruders that weren't worth their time. According to the rumours, they were the best there is.

The thought excited me. They were obviously powerful, and would present more than a decent challenge. And besides that, it had been a while since I had really pushed myself. Even though I knew it was a stupid idea, I wanted to test myself. So I decided to infiltrate the main mansion, and meet this family. If anything, I was curious as to how I stood in comparison to them.

After a few nights of preparation, I finally went for it. There was a large stone wall that surrounded their property, and as I had observed it before, I knew where there was a small opening just large enough for a child to slip in through. I used that as my entry point, and from then on I had to rely in my instincts. I had barely approached the mansion, when a group of armed men found me. As expected, they showed me no mercy simply because I was just a child. However, I swung my whip and they were dead before they had a chance to pull the trigger on their guns. Judging from their lack of talent, those men were obviously just hired guards. The family would be inside, enjoying their life of riches. I quickly came across a back door, and entered that way. For some reason, no one was there, and although I found it strange, I continued anyway. Through some of the hallways, I met more of the hired guards. They shot at me, however, I found it easy to predict the path of their shots, and dodged. Before they had time to comprehend my skill level, they were falling to the floor in tiny pieces. I continued onward, but then floor underneath me opened up, causing me to fall into one of the traps. I landed in a large empty room, with a single door. I tried to open it, but it was locked. That's what I got for my carelessness. I should have been better prepared for something like that.

Suddenly, the door opened up, and in walked a tall man with brown hair and cold, agnostic hazel eyes. I jumped back a distance from the man, and closely observed him. His clothes looked extremely expensive, and on his waist was holstered a gun. He stared at me with his eyes narrowed.

"I commend you for forcing me to face you myself. However, you might also want to thank luck for sending most of my better trained employees to search for my troublesome children." His voice was condescending, and I could instantly tell that I didn't like him.

"Are you the master of this household? The ones rumoured to be the best assassins?" I asked simply.

"I am." He said with a tone that seemed to be debating between amused and disgusted. "And you are?"

I smirked. "I'm Aysu. I've come to challenge you."

His face now showed complete disgust. "You're just a little girl. What, do you think you can be an assassin? How pathetic. The only role women should hold is that of a wife who makes profit for her family."

I twitched at the word 'family'. Rage then filled body, and I decided then and there that I would kill this man no matter what. "Oh, don't worry... I'VE ALREADY MADE MY FAMILY PLENTY OF PROFIT!" I shouted as I swung my whip at him.

Much to my surprise, he completely dodged my attack. It was the first time I'd seen anyone not receive at least an injury from the first stroke. I could already tell that he lived up to the rumours. I continued to swing my whip at him, and he continued to dodge. His movements were spectacular. He had absolute control, and from what I could tell, they were flawless. In a fast movement that I almost missed, he pulled out his gun and shot at me. I didn't get hit, but the bullet scratched my face just before colliding with the wall. I then knew that I had to keep my guard up more than usual, or else I would get killed. My attacks became fiercer, but it still didn't seem to faze him. He began to shoot his gun while dodging my whip, causing me to dodge as well. His technique was incredible. Unlike with the guards before, I could barely read his movements, and it was hard to predict the path of the gun shot. I had never fought anyone so gifted before, and while I found it frustrating, I didn't want it to end. My expectations had been surpassed. I was finally facing someone stronger than myself, and I knew that if I could kill him that the pleasure I usually felt from killing would be multiplied.

However, I had gotten ahead of myself. I bullet slipped through my defence, hitting my leg. I fell to the ground, in pain, and held the spot that had been hit. The man then shot my shoulder. I then fell onto my back, as I groaned in pain. The man then walked up to me and pointed the gun at my face.

"You're an amusing child, I'll give you that." He said coldly. "However, you are sadly misplaced. Women aren't made to be assassins. Accept it."

I gave him a hard death glare, essentially telling him to fuck off. He wasn't amused. He took the gun and shot two bullets through my abdomen. I let out a brief yelp of pain, but then shut my mouth and endured the pain as previous experiences had taught me to do. He stared, clearly curious about my endurance of pain, but didn't care enough about me to ask. He then took his foot and brought it down on my injuries. I strongly resisted the urge to shout out, even though it was clear on my face that I was in pain. The man's eyes narrowed as he repeated the same thing over and over, trying to get some kind of reaction from me. However, I refused to allow him the satisfaction of my screams. At most, I grunted from each blow.

"What a good girl you are..." The man grinned. "Barely making a sound even though you're in pain. And your fighting might have been acceptable if you were a boy. I wish my son could be more like you..." I sent him a glare as he once again raised his gun. I heard the shot, and then everything became black.

I woke up in a garden. I had no idea how long I had been knocked out, but the second I moved, I could tell I was still badly wounded. From the looks of things, I had been dumped somewhere to simply rot away. Luckily for me, my whip was still with me. I picked it up, and then, much against my body's protest, started walking around in hopes of finding someone to treat my wounds. Fortunately, there was a small village not too far away. I was able to limp over to a doctor, who decided to help me out of pity, I suppose. After a few weeks, I was fully recovered and left without a word.

What happened to me at the mansion weighed on my mind. _Women aren't made to be assassins._ What a bunch of bullshit. I decided then that I would become a great assassin, and prove that bastard wrong. However, it was clear that I wasn't quite ready. I would need better techniques, swifter movements, and a wider variety of fighting styles. I was nowhere near ready to be a professional assassin. So I went into seclusion for almost two years, and did nothing but train myself. I didn't even bother killing people for fun. It could wait. Besides, I was now only interested in prey that would provide a challenge. And someday, I would go back to that mansion and defeat the so-called _greatest assassins._

Two years went by in no time at all. Before I knew it, I was back in the cities looking for jobs. However, most people were reluctant to hire me. I found an organization that gave work to professional assassins, and knew that they would be the best people to work for. So I approached them, and before they had a chance to turn me down, I gave them a demonstration of my skills. Clearly they were impressed, if not a bit scared by the fact that such a talented killer was still just a child.

"Look, kid. You're good, I'll give you that, but I can't let you go on missions alone. Besides the fact that you're too young, you're a girl! Seriously. If you can find a partner, we'll let you handle jobs, but not until then. Okay?"

"Fine..." I muttered with annoyance. They were only saying that because no one would ever team up with a child, much less a girl. But it's not like I didn't see this coming. And either way, none of the people I could see were worthy of partnering with me.

I walked through the forest alone, thinking about what I should do. If I could find a worthy partner, then they would have no choice but to hire me. I could probably threaten someone if I got desperate... But before I could finish my thoughts, another child around the same age came running out of the bushes. It looked to be a boy with short brown hair, black torn clothes, and blood smeared all over his face. Though after a moment, I realized that this kid was actually a girl.

"Who are you?" I asked curiously.

The boyish girl hesitated for a moment, and then answered, "Innya's my name. What about you?"

"Aysu. What's with the blood? Did you kill someone?" I asked with a smirk. I expected her answer to be no, since most children aren't brought up the way I was.

"That's right. I killed my parents. What are you going to do about it?" Innya said firmly. I stared curiously. Was she just like me? After examining her closely, she seemed to have some skill, what with the way she moved, and talked. And also, there was an incredible bloodlust coming from her.

"I don't really care that you killed your parents, actually." I replied with a shrug. Then an idea hit me. "Say.... You wouldn't happen to be interested in killing for a living, would you?" Innya stared wide-eyed. "You see, I need a partner in order to be qualified for the job, but I'm not gonna settle on just anyone. I need a powerful fighter. Think you can handle it?"

Innya's mouth spread into a childish smile. "Sounds like fun." I smirked. This suited me just fine. Besides, she seemed to be an interesting character, to say the least. And now I would get to do what I loved most; killing people.

Before we could continue talking, a boy who greatly resembled Innya ran up to us. "Innya! Wait up! Don't leave me behind!" He yelled.

"Desya!" Innya exclaimed with a smile. "Sure took you long enough!"

I stared at the boy, who could have been Innya's twin. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is my brother Desya. Desya, this is my new friend Aysu. We're gonna be partners and kill people for a living!" Innya exclaimed happliy.

"Haha! Sounds like a job that suits you!" Desya laughed as he patted Innya on the head. "Aysu, huh? Nice to meet you." Desya said, holding his hand out to shake with me. But I didn't return the gesture.

"A brother, huh? Could be a problem...." I muttered to myself. Innya and Desya stared at me curiously. "Are you sure he won't.... Get in the way?" I said cautiously to Innya.

"Don't worry about Desya, he'll be fine! Now tell me more about this job that involves killing people."

I nodded, but still felt uneasy. The idea of my partner having a dependant filled me with unease. He could become our weakness, if we got too close. Then again, what was I worrying about? I don't trust anyone. Besides, I probably wouldn't be able to find another worthy partner for years. He's not my brother, so if something happens to him, I wouldn't be the one crying. And if I couldn't stay with Innya, then I would just have to find a new partner.


End file.
